


Coffee Bay

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel (TV)
Genre: Gen, TSCC concrit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-26 01:17:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20733851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: Simon's cousin is looking for a new blend of coffee





	Coffee Bay

**Author's Note:**

> A short piece written for the Sentinel Chat concrit for the prompt 'coffee'.

Coffee Bay

by Bluewolf

Simon's cousin was the owner of a flourishing business that imported and blended coffee.

The day-to-day running of the business itself was done by a manager; once the business was established, Ned Banks spent very little time there, preferring rather to wander the coffee-producing areas of the world, submitting the various blends he found there to a stringent taste test. Simon didn't know, and Blair had never had reason to learn, that Ned had an enhanced sense of taste. His sense of smell, often linked to taste, was acute but not actually enhanced. It was, however, strong enough for him to know when something smelled really good. He could remember one blend of coffee that hadn't smelled particularly appetizing, although when he tasted it he considered it one of the best he had ever swallowed. Balanced against the smell, however, he had chosen not to buy it, and he was unsurprised when he returned to the area some two years later to find that it was no longer available.

Ned made a point of visiting some of the smaller coffee-producing countries occasionally - he had found one or two very good blends in those countries. So when he heard of Koffiebaai in South Africa he did a check on the place, finding that the name, as he suspected, meant Coffee Bay. He decided that it might be worth a visit.

South Africa itself wasn't a coffee-exporting country, though it wasn't that far - on a global scale - from several that were... but an area calling itself 'Coffee Bay' had to be producing a fair amount of the stuff.

There was no particular reason a small town in a country that didn't produce much coffee shouldn't, on its own, get the chance to sell its produce abroad.

So Ned decided to visit Koffiebaai on his next trip to Africa.

***

As his hired car bumped down the potholed road towards the small town, Ned began to regret his decision to go there. It had been a long journey, but while the scenery was spectacular enough, nowhere could he see any sign of coffee plantations. He knew - from the distance he had covered - that he must be getting close, and he would certainly have expected to see plantations -

He drove around a corner, found himself facing a small town, and knew that he had reached his destination. He followed a sign saying 'Big House Guest House' and after a minute or two reached a small, but surprisingly luxurious-looking, hotel.

Ned was already certain that this was a wasted journey, but he decided to stop for a night before heading back north and to an area that he knew was coffee-producing. As he booked in, he asked, "How did this town get its name?" deliberately keeping his tone light, making it sound like casual curiosity.

The receptionist smiled - it was a question often asked. "It's said that over a hundred years ago a ship carrying coffee beans was shipwrecked here. The beans were washed ashore, and germinated. Unfortunately, nobody knew the best way to care for them, and they all died. But by then the area was called 'Koffiebaai', and the name stuck."

Ned nodded. "Interesting," he said. He took his room key and headed up the single flight of stairs. No need for anyone to know that the name had fooled him into thinking this small part of South Africa was coffee-producing, or that he was on anything but a touring holiday. But next day he would head for Zimbabwe, and continue his search for a new supply of quality coffee.


End file.
